Regulating mechanism for inhalation and exhalation with apparatus for supplying oxygen



R. THAUER ETAL EXHALATION WITH APPARATUS FOR SUPFLYING OXYGEN Filed May 20 1953 July15,1958

REGULATING MECHANISM FOR INHALATION AND al 9 H 5M35 3 United States Patent O REGULATING MECHANESM FOR INHALATION AND EXHALATION WITH APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING OXYGEN Rudolf Thauer, Bad Nauheim, Germany, and Herbert R. Greider, Philadelphia, and James V. Correale, Jr., Havertown, Pa.

Application May 20, 1953, Serial No. 356,325

4 Claims. (Cl. 128144) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein may be used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

The present invention pertains to the art of oxygen sup ply for respiration, and comprises regulating mechanism for inhalation and exhalation. The present invention is useful under conditions of ordinary atmospheric pressure, and also may be used under conditions in which a person might be clothed more or less completely in a pressurized garment, for example while ilying at high altitudes.

The invention comprises an exhalation exhaust valve, an oxygen supply valve and mechanism between them operating the oxygen supply valve in response to operation of the exhalation exhaust valve. The exhaust valvev is controlled by the functions of respiration setting up pressure differentials, which operate to open and close the exhalation exhaust valve at the beginning and end respectively of the exhalation phase of respiration, and the oxygen supply valve is operated through the mechanism between valves to closed and open condition severally when the exhalation exhaust valve is opened and closed respectively.

For a fuller understanding of the principles of the invention and one practical embodiment thereof, attention is directed to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a frontal View of the device of the invention, worn by a person whois clothed in a pressurized garment;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the device viewed from the right in Fig. l, and being partially cross-sectional on line 2-2 of Fig. l, and

Fig. 3 is a detailed elevation, partially cross-sectional on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Chamber 11, Figs. l and 2, contains regulating mechanism of the present invention, which comprises the diaphragm 15, lever 16 actuated thereby, and the exhalation valve 17 which is operated by lever 16 to regulate its becoming opened and closed in proper timed relationship with the breathing cycle.

Diaphragm 15, as seen in Fig. 2 is a flexible disc 18 of Huid-tight cloth or other flexible fabric, which is secured at its periphery to the rigid ring 19 by means of adhesive for example. Ring 19 presents a ange that is clamped inside the chamber 11 under the cover plate 20, gasket 21 of rubber or the like yielding material being provided to make the attachment of diaphragm within chamber 11 fluid tight. Diaphragm 15, accordingly, constitutes a iiuid-tight partition or wall inside chamber 11 that divides the chamber into the exhalation compartment 22 and the atmospheric compartment 23.

Being iiexible, the partition of diaphragm 15 is movable 2,843,120 Patented July 15, 1958 fice to the right or left in Fig. 2, to change the volumes of compartments 22 and 23, these volumetric variations being responsive to variations of the pressure differential between compartments. A plus value of pressure differential in compartment 22 with reference to compartment 23 presses diaphragm 15 to the right, and increases the volume of compartment 22, and the volume of chamber 22 decreases in response to a minus value of pressure diierential therein. Cover plate 20 comprises the aperture 24, which opens compartment 23 to atmospheric pressure. Thus, plus and minus pressure diierentials of compartment 22 are respectively higher and lower than atmospheric pressure.

Diaphragm 15 is reinforced by means of rigid discs 25, which are somewhat smaller in diameter, and which are clamped to the fabric disc concentrically on its respective opposite faces by means of center pin 26. Lever 16 is mounted inside the compartment 22 to pivot at 27, and the center pin 26 is pivotally attached to lever 16 at a predetermined point 28 along its length. Thus, when diaphragm 15 moves to the left or right in Fig. 2, it operates to swing lever 16 to the left and right respectively.

Valve 17 compri-ses the closure 30, which is a plate that bears against the seat 31 to close the aperture 32 thereof. Valve 17 comprises a stem 33, which projects through the arm of lever 16, and constitutes a'screw, the head 34 of which is engaged by lever 16 during its movement to the right to lift closure 30 away from its seat 31 and open aperture 32. Screw 33 is rotatable to adjust the position of the head 34 for engagement by lever 16 during its swing to the right, and to adjust lost motion after closure 30 engages seat 31 during swing of the lever to left. Closure 30 is held in seating engagement with its seat 31 under stress of spring 36 between closure plate 30 and lever 16, spring 36 in the disclosed embodiment being the compression type.

Mask 40 is secured to one end of the exhalation duct 41, the other end of which is secured to the chamber 11 by means of fitting 42, duct 41 being positioned to communicate with compartment 22. Mask 40 lits over the face of the wearer as shown, and comprises a cavity into which the wearer exhales. Products of exhalation pass through the duct 41 into compartment 22, where they set up a plus ditferential of pressure. Diaphragm 15 moves to the right, accordingly, and swings lever 16 to the right, thereby lifting closure 30 away from its seat 31 and opening aperture 32, through which the products of exhalation are exhausted. A minus pressure differential is produced in chamber 22 when the wearer inhales, and the lever 16 thereby is swung to the left with movement of diaphragm 15 to the left to close the aperture 32.

Fitting 44 is secured to chamber 11, and contains the bore 45, which constitutes a passage for the ow of oxygen into and through duct 46, which by-passes the chamber 11. Oxygen duct 46 enters the exhalation duct 41 at fitting 42, and extends along duct 41 interiorly thereof to the terminus 47 of duct 46 within the cavity of mask 40. Closure 48 seats against the end of bore 45 under stress of the spring 49, and constitutes an oxygen supply Valve. Spring 49 also is the compression type. Abutment member 50 forms a seat for the :spring 49 to back it, and is threaded in fitting 44 to adjust the stress of the spring. Oxygen is supplied from any suitable source through the supply line 51 of Fig. l and the nipple 52 of Figs. 2 and 3, flowing through aperture 53 of abutment member Si) into passage 45 whenever the valve of closure 48 is open.

Closure 48 is secured to one end of the stem 54, which carries piston 55 at its other end, the piston 55 being operable in the bore 45 constituting a working barrel. Lugs 57 project laterally from the arm of lever 16 and support the abutment iinger 58 in position for engagement with the end of piston 5S. Whenever lever 16 swings to the left in Fig. 2, abutment nger 58 actuates piston 55 downwardly, and opens the valve of closure 48 against the stress of spring 49. When lever 16 swings to the right, the valve of closure 48 is closed under action of the Spring 49.

Abutment finger S8 is a screw, which is threaded in one of the lugs 57, and thus is adjustable to time its engagement with piston 55 and operation of valve 43 in accordance with the breathing cycle. The lugs 57 are spaced apart, and lock nut S9 is adjustable along screw S8 to vary the spacing between lugs 57. This causes the lever 16 to bend at the point along its arm between the lugs 57. The end of the arm of lever 16 at the attachment of stem 33 of the exhalation valve 17 is thereby adjustably positionable to the left or right, to adjust the time of the exhalation exhaust valve 17 opening and closing relative to the timing of oxygen valve 48.

During the exhalation phase of the breathing cycle, as hereinbefore described, when lever 16 swings to the right and opens the exhaust valve 17, abutment nger 58 is raised away from piston 55, and the spring 49 actuates closure 48 into closed position of the oxygen supply valve. The oxygen supply thereby is cut off at the cavity of mask 4) during exhalation. During the inhalation phase of breathing, when Valve 17 is closed as hereinbefore described, abutment iinger 58 depresses piston 55 and lifts closure 48 to open the oxygen supply valve, and this admits oxygen to the cavity of mask 40 through the terminus 47 of oxygen duct 46 during inhalation. In this manner the supply of oxygen to the cavity of mask 40, and the opening of exhaust valve 17, are timed automatically in coordination with the respective inhalation and exhalation phases of the cycle of normal human respiration, to supply oxygen during inhalation, and during exhalation to exhaust products of exhalation and cut off oxygen supply at the same time.

As described hereinbefore, apparatus of the present invention may be used in ordinary atmospheric pressure encountered at or near sea level, and is useful, for example, in lire fighting to enter an enclosure contaminated with smoke or noxious gas. Chamber 11 may be suspended from the neck of the wearer in a manner that is well known and obvious, which requires no further description herein. It is important to observe only that aperture 24 of cover plate 20 is open, and the compartment 23 therefore is under atmospheric pressure.

The apparatus also may be used by a person wearing a pressurized garment, and the disclosure of the drawing is directed particularly to this purpose. In some occupations it is deemed advisable for a person to wear a garment 60 that is pressurized, for example in atmospheres of very low pressure that are encountered by yers at very high altitudes.

Garment 60 embodies a collar 61 that seals the garment at the neck of the wearer, cutis 62 that seal the garment at the wrists of the wearer and the waistband 63 that seals the garment at the waist of the wearer. The precise structure of the garment 60 forms no part of the present invention, and does not require detailed understanding for understanding the present invention. It is sutlicient to know that the garment 60 constitutes a container of iiuid under pressure, around the body of the wearer and particularly around the chest. Garment 60 is sutiiciently iuid tight to hold its contents under the pressure of a gas of any suitable kind, which is supplied to the garment from any suitable constant-pressure source 4 through the line 64. The pressure of the gas from the supply through line 64 may be as high as normal atmospheric pressure at sea level, or somewhat lower, but invariably higher than atmospheric pressure at the altitude where the garment is intended to be worn.

Chamber 11 is attached to garment 60 by means of the clamping rings 65 and 66, Fig, 2, and additional attaching means may be provided if desired to support the added load. The garment is provided with an aperture 67, preferably at the front near the middle of the chest, aperture 67 being the same size, and being positioned adjacent to, aperture 24 of the cover plate 20. Apertures 67 and 24 are held in coaxial alignment by means of the clamping rings 65 and 66, which serve as a reinforcement for the attachment of chamber 11 to the garment.

The described structure positions chamber 11 at the front of the garment and resting on the chest of the wearer, as seen in Fig. 1. Apertures 24 and 67 form a passage communicating between compartment 23 of chamber 11 and the interior of the garment 60, and compartment 23 accordingly is under pressure of the garment 60, whatever that pressure happens to be.

The pressure inside garment 60 uctuates with the process of breathing, and the pressure of compartment 23 varies accordingly. During inhalation, the chest expands within the garment 60, the volume of which is relatively uniform, and the pressure inside garment 60, as also in compartment 23, is increased accordingly. During exhalation, the pressure insidegarment 60, and also in compartment 23, drops off. It will be observed that the pressure in compartment 23 increases during inhalation, when the pressure in compartment 22 falls oi, and pressure in compartment 23 decreases duringexhalation, when the pressure of compartment 22 is raised and causes valve 17 to become opened.

Accordingly, when the apparatus of the present invention is employed by a person wearing a pressurized garment 60, to which the chamber 11 is attached as shown in the drawing, and of which garment the mask 40 is an appurtenant component, pressure variations on respective opposite sides of diaphragm 15 responsive to the process of respiration are mutually cooperative towards operating the regulating mechanism of the present invention.

One practical embodiment of the invention is disclosed in the herein specification and accompanying drawing. The scope of the invention is defined in the accompanying claims.

We claim:

1. In oxygen supplying apparatus for respiration, a mask, a uid tight compartment and a uid tight exible diaphragm embodied in one wall of the compartment, an exhalation duct communicating between the mask and the compartment, an exhalation valve in the compartment, mechanism between the valve and the diaphragm to open the valve under a plus pressure diierential between the compartment on one side of the diaphragm and the atmosphere on the other side of the diaphragm, an inhalation duct connecting a source of oxygen under pressure with the mask exteriorly of the compartment, an oxygen valve operating to control oxygen flow through the inhalation duct to the mask, mechanism between the exhalation valve and the oxygen valve for opening the oxygen valve by the exhalation valve becoming closed.

2. In oxygen supplying apparatus as defined in claim 1, the mechanism between the exhalation and oxygen valves operating also to close the oxygen valve by the exhalation valve becoming opened.

3. In oxygen supplying apparatus for respiration in a pressurized garment, a mask, a uid tight chamber comprising an exhalation and an atmospheric compartment and a fluid tight exible diaphragm constituting a partition wall separating the compartments, an exhalation duct communicating between thek mask .and the exhala- 5 tion compartment, an exhalation valve in the exhalation compartment, mechanism between the exhalation valve and the diaphragm to open and close the valve alternatively under respective plus and minus pressure dierentials between the exhalation compartment and the atmospheric compartment, a uid passage between the atmospheric compartment and the interior of the garment, an inhalation duct connecting a source of oxygen under pressure with the mask exteriorly of the chamber, an oxygen valve oper-ating to control oxygen flow through the inhalation duct to the mask, mechanism between the exhalation valve and the oxygen valve for opening the 5 valve becoming opened.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hull Oct. 4, 1932 2,523,906 Holmes Q Sept. 26, 1950 

